K N Pandita
After weeks of bizarre dramatics, the No-Confidence Motion took place and Imran Khan is out. At least, one part of the big dramatics is over. The question is what next.
As the acrimony between the ruling and the opposition reached its peak observers thought that the Army would step in as usual in such circumstances. For two vital reasons, it did not. Firstly, the Army was in deep anguish when Imran trained his guns on the US raking up the issue of an undefined and unsubstantiated document attributed to a Foreign Office diplomat in Washington. The US denied any role in Pakistan’s domestic affairs and the Pak Army chief sent signals that his establishment was not on the same page.
Secondly, the Army had also disapproved of Imran’s visit to Moscow at a time when Putin was working on the plan of marching his troops into Ukraine. The report is that the US had conveyed its dislike of Imran visiting Moscow at an odd time when it could be misinterpreted. Precisely that happened when Imran said that he would not annoy Moscow.
Why Imran fell out with the US and in his public rallies raised his finger toward the US accusing it of trying to pull down his government, is a moot point. Just before the no-confidence motion would be taken up in the Assembly, he intensified his anti-America campaign by brandishing a piece of paper which he said was a copy of a letter a senior US foreign office functionary had sent to the Pak Ambassador in Washington in which the US had desired ouster of Imran. Imran gave it hype so much that he began to believe in his lie.
The Speaker kept away on the day when voting would take place; the Deputy Speaker refused to allow voting on the no-confidence motion under the pretext that foreign elements were interfering in the internal affairs of Pakistan. Pandemonium raged in the Assembly hall. Imran Khan rushed to President Alavi and got the orders of dissolving the Assembly issued. He thought he had saved his skin.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan saved the country from impending political disaster. It also saved the Constitution and democracy in the beleaguered country. Its verdict of reinstating the Assembly and the government and ordering that voting on the no-confidence motion should be completed on the 9th of April was a slap on the face of a large clique that was trying to circumvent the constitution.
The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker both have resigned. They could do nothing otherwise. Imran Khan is ousted and now is the turn of the President who must resign without delay otherwise he will be thrown out with more ignominy. Shehbaz Sharif, the President of PML (N) the leader of the opposition is likely to be the new PM.
There will be a new situation for the new Government to handle. First of all, it has to understand that Imran Khan is going to be the leader of the opposition as he has a strong group with him more united than the ruling group. He may be down but he is not out. He has not lost the chances of revival.
Secondly, the crucial question is will the opposition groups be able to maintain solidarity as the key to their survival is power? There are many ifs and buts. We have doubts that unity among them will last longer because they are a pack of ambitious people with many among their stalwarts tainted and under surveillance. The first fracas will break out in the matter of distribution of portfolios because each federating unit will expect the lion’s share.
As far as the foreign policy of Pakistan under the new dispensation is concerned, the roadmap has already been laid by the Army chief. Fences will be mended with the US, though the US never took Imran’s ranting seriously. Secondly, Washington will heave a sigh of relief for Pakistan on its page as far as the Ukrainian issue is concerned.
The third crucial question which will serve as a decisive test for the Shehbaz Sharif government will be the issue of the economic and financial recovery of the State. What magic wand will Shehbaz Sharif move to put an end to the economic and financial crisis with which the country is beset? Some saner voices are coming out of the group but these are only a few and also not too loud as yet. Pakistan cannot expect to have normal relations with the world community unless the new regime uproots scores of jihadi and the-fascist groups flourishing on its soil for long. The world wants to be satisfied that Pakistan is no more the cradle of international terrorism.
Therefore, the new Government’s first fight is not with the political opposition but with the Theo-fascist groups at home that have strong links to political and financial barons in and outside the country. Unless the new government undertakes to uproot lock, stock and barrel the entire structure of terrorism in Pakistan, regime change will bring her no good whatsoever. What is needed is introspection in the ruling class in Pakistan and the people in general about whether it is in the larger interests of the people of their country to have normal relations with India so that trade and commerce are conducted on the bilateral level to the benefit of people in both the countries. It is also important for the Pakistani leadership to think about whether resorting to violence, border firing and shelling, the proliferation of drugs and narcotics and trying to harm India’s interests has paid anything to Pakistan. By pursuing the policy of bleeding India by a thousand cuts Pakistan has inflicted ten thousand cuts on her own body and gotten isolated in the world as the fountain-head of terrorism. Pakistan must come out of this syndrome.
We know that now the PML (N) headed party will be in the seat of power, but it will have to carry the other partners along with it and even the opposition as well by defining its domestic and foreign policy in no ambiguous words. Dismantling the terrorist structure is not only in favour of India and all neighbouring countries but foremost in the interests of Pakistan itself. A strong and prosperous Pakistan is in the interests of India.
The verdict of the Pakistan Supreme Court is a way the roadmap laid out by this agency for a liberal, democratic and outlooking Pakistan. It is indeed a historic decision that has given a new lease of life to a nation that was brought to the brink of disaster by its unscrupulous leadership. Pakistanis should pledge that they will not allow democracy to be strangulated and laid waste. Today entire democratic world has a great appreciation for the sagacity, foresight and legal acumen of her Supreme Court. Let the nation live up to that dream.
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